The After Effects
by Shurokami
Summary: Kagome and Inuyasha have become mates. But Miko were never meant to love Hanyou. See what goes horridly awry in this tragedy that will make you cry from beginning to end, unless you're completely heartless. Rated M for sexual content.


_Her hair blew softly in the midnight breeze. Her body left in a mangled heap on the clearing floor. Screams of anguish invaded her ears as blurs came into view of her quickly fading sight. Someone was coming, possibly to finish the job done on her poor soul. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. She wasn't meant to die on a battlefield 500 years before her birth. She wasn't meant to be held by creatures that should exist only in nightmares and fantasy. She wasn't meant to fall in love. Miko were never meant to fall in love; especially with hanyou._

* * *

He pounded into her, moaning his need in the form of her name. Each thrust left her gasping for air, clinging on to him, for that was all she could do with such power and speed behind his tempo. Each removal elicited a moan from the young maiden as his shaft stroked her clit, just as each thrust back into her caused satisfaction to ring through her as he hit her sweet spot. Sweat trickled down her throat, nothing more than a bead against moist slickness, making its way slowly down to the valley between her breasts as her head rolled back. Bending his head down, basic primal instinct caused him to lick the trail back up her throat. Amidst the moans, gasps, groans and mewls, flesh slapping against flesh was heard; making a song only these lovers would come to hear. It was their song, only they could make it, never to be duplicated.

Her nails dug deeply into his back as her inner muscles tightened around his member. Blinding white lights danced across her vision as she convulsed; the coming of her fourth orgasm of the evening. After several moments she hung limply from her still thrusting lover. A whimper arose from the young maiden as she felt the fire begin to burn in her abdomen once more as he reached his own peak, climaxing inside of her. Juices mingled at the junction between her thighs as he slid out of her satisfied being. He rolled onto his back, pulling the woman with him as he nuzzled her collar bone, where he had left his mate mark, as well as a good amount of love marks. It flashed brilliantly in blood red as he kissed the crescent-shaped mark.

"Mine." He growled possessively, knowing this to be one of the only truths in his life. He had never owned much, just his beloved sword and the clothes on his back, but this new addition overcame both in his eyes. His greatest treasure was this woman who lay on top of him, completely exposed to his eyes and his eyes alone. The girl in question nodded and smiled, snuggling into his chest as she breathed in his scent deeply.

"Hai Koishii, yours and only yours." Kissing his chest lightly, she began to doze lightly, exhausted from the nights events. Manly pride swelled within the man underneath her; he had managed to tire the wonderfully beautiful maiden, his maiden, so thoroughly that she could barely stay awake. His arms tightened around her as he stared down at her in wonder. How is it that this tiny being was full of so much love that she could overcome the species boundaries, all the hate towards his kind, the malice, just to be with him? It wasn't until the sun began to peak through the trees that he teared his gaze away from his little woman, molten orbs searching around the clearing. A single dog ear twitched as he felt her stir in his arms, seeking warmth from her hanyou lover in the cool morning breeze. He adjusted his grip, pulling his haori over both of them to shelter them from the lack of heat within the air. Sighing in contentment, she buried her nose in the crook of his neck and smiled in her sleep. "My Inuyasha."

His eyes widened a fraction as his heartbeat quickened its pace. The hanyou in question growled his approval, licking the shell of her ear lightly as his hands caressed her arms lightly. This woman, this woman would be the death of him. The love he held for her would be his undoing. She moaned under his ministration, slowly allowing her chocolate orbs to peak out from under her thick lashes. Looking up from the arms of her lover, she smiled once her eyes met that of molten amber. A fanged smile and a twitch of his right ear made her lover look like a child in a candy store, a sight so heart-warming a smile of her own graced her lips.

"Morning, sleepy-head." The woman laughed lightly as she kissed her hanyou's lips softly, running her tongue along his lower lip lightly before giggling and removing herself from her lovers arms. He whined in protest, but did not stop her want to get changed, secretly adoring the way her hips swayed as she went to go grab her clothing. Quickly he stood up and snuck up behind the unsuspecting woman and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her flush against his body. With a growl in her ear that sent shivers down her spine he let out a low, seductive whisper that left no room for argument. "I don't think we're finished here, wench." To justify his point he ground against her, making sure she felt just how "un-finished" they really were. With a smile she turned around in his arms and hitched one of her legs up over his hip while kissing a hot trail from his collar bone to his lips. He moaned in response and thrust his hips to run his engorged shaft through her slick folds.

Slowly, Kagome raised herself onto her tippy-toes and whispered gently into his ear. "Oh, I think we're done for today, Koishii." She laughed lightly as she turned around again and continued to get dressed, leaving the hanyou to stand there in shock at her twisted refusal. Finally coming out of it he smirked as he watched her continue to get dressed (which she did, albeit extremely slowly).

"Keh. Tease." With that said he picked the unsuspecting woman up unceremoniously and dumped her back onto his kosode for round five.

* * *

_They were happy for a while. That much she could remember as she clung onto her final moments of life. They were spontaneous, passionate, and love-filled, each and every memory that burned into her mind. Even now as he held her in his arms weakly, he himself close to his own final moments, whispering words of love and affection to deaf ears, her hanyou still cared for her. Even after he found out that this was all her fault; he still felt the need to weep over her, have his heart broken over her. They had been perfectly fine, everything had been normal, happy for them…until the pain started wracking their bodies._

* * *

"Ite. Inuyasha, it hurts. What's going on?" Kagome allowed a few tears to fall from her eyes as pain pierced through her being once more. Inuyasha himself was wincing as he felt the same reaction strike through his being. It had been going on for a couple months now, starting small and increasing in pain as the days went. Agony filled his bones at the sight of his wench in so much pain.

"I don't know, but when I find out, I'm going to kick the person's ass for hurting you like this Koi." He slowly wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, kissing the mate mark he bestowed on her four months ago. He silently vowed to seek vengeance on whoever placed this curse over them; seek vengeance on the one who dared come after his mate.

"I…I think I'll go speak to Kaede tomorrow about it. If this is some kind of curse, I'm sure she'll know what kind of curse it is and how to get rid of it." With a nod into her neck, Kagome cringed once more and tried to shake off the pain by diving into the realm of dreams.

Inuyasha kept his amber eyes open, watching as his young lover cringed in pain, even in her sleep. This nightmare had gone on for too long. Carefully extracting himself from his lover's arms, Inuyasha marched out of the hut and to his Miko's mentor's house to get some answers. Rather than calling for her from outside, as most respectful beings would do for the elder, Inuyasha marched right in, knowing she would still be awake at such a late hour.

"Oi, Kaede-baa-baa. What the hell is going on?" Inuyasha plopped down in front of the elder Miko, fixing her with his trademark glare. Kaede merely stared back in confusion, though was not surprised by the hanyou's brash forwardness, another trademark of his.

"What be the problem Inuyasha? Has something gone wrong with young Kagome?" Inuyasha's eyes became troubled at the mention of Kagome.

"We…We think there's a curse hanging over us Baa-baa. She's been wracked with pains for the past two months; nothing I do can stop it. I can't protect her from this. I can fight against Youkai, Hanyou, dark Miko, lost souls, even my own inner Youkai; but not this. I can't protect her from something I have no clue how to fight." Kaede gave him a thoughtful stare as he opened up to her; a very rare moment for him.

"Maybe young Kagome-sama is in the process of bearing you a babe?" Inuyasha shook his head slowly, almost as if he was contemplating it, yet denying it at the same time.

"…I…I feel the pain too Baa-baa." Kaede's eye widened in shock.

"You too, Inuyasha?" With a nod from the hanyou, Kaede's eyebrows furrowed. "Let me have a look at ye aura." Inuyasha moved closer to the old woman as she studied his aura, studying her own face for a reaction. After several long agonizing minutes, Kaede's eyebrow shot up as her wrinkled eye widened. She said nothing as she moved away, immediately getting up from the floor and moving to her cupboard, rifling for herbs. Inuyasha growled.

"What the fuck is wrong Baa-baa?" He immediately stood up and walked over to Kaede, pulling her hands away from the jar so that she was facing him. She couldn't meet his eyes, looking down to the ground.

"Ye and Kagome should not have mated, Inuyasha. It has sealed both of your fates."

"What the hell do you mean?" Kaede chose at that moment to look Inuyasha in the eye, her own eye filled with such despair.

"Kagome's Miko aura is killing ye, Inuyasha. I can only presume yer youki is doing the same to her. Miko and Youkai were never meant to be together. My only suggestion is to break the bond ye two share." Inuyasha's eyes flashed blood red at the older woman's words. There was no way in hell he was going to break the bond. There was no way to break the bond.

"Keh. A mate's bond can't be broken without killing one of the mates Baa-baa. You know that! And I'm not about to let Kagome die all so I can live, cause knowing her, if she ever found out I went to go kill myself so she could get a chance… she'd osuwari me so many times that I wouldn't be able to move. She won't let me do it; even if it's for her own good."Kaede nodded in understanding. No; there wouldn't be a way of separating these two mates, whose love was stronger than the Kami themselves.

"Then ye and Kagome are fated to die together. I can only recommend herbs to ease the pain." Inuyasha nodded at Kaede's suggestion, wanting his mate to be in the least amount of pain possible. With solemn looks from both of them, Inuyasha turned towards the door, and back to his sleeping mate; utter sadness seeping deep into his heart as he already began to mourn the loss of her.

* * *

"_Kagome… Koi, don't go. Don't go; not just yet." His words never met her ears, but I could hear them in her heart clearly. Those same words he uttered every time the pain became unbearable, every time the darkness would threaten to swallow her. She shuddered as a cold chill ripped through her body and another spasm of pain hit her._

"_Inu….ya…" Her whisper was barely audible to even the hanyou ear. His grip tightened on her as he kissed the mate mark upon her neck, not letting his lips leave her flesh for the longest time. A sweat drop rolled off his nose and onto her neck, a welcome to her heated skin. Her eyes began to flutter closed as a moan escaped her lips. Pain flashed through her as she faintly grabbed the love of her life closer to her. In return he whispered words of love and affection to her, using the last of his strength to pull her tighter to him, and tell stories of a time when things weren't so horrid; when the times were happy between the two of them… back before they were mates; when they still hunted down shards of the Shikon no Tama. This brought Kagome to start thinking about back when they found the cursed jewel hidden away in a forgotten box under the floorboards…_

* * *

"Hey! Inuyasha! Come here a second, I need your help getting this floorboard off." Inuyasha rushed to his mate's side to help her. He did it with a scowl though; a clever way to effectively hide his pain from the young Miko.

"What the hell do you need to rip up the house for? We just finished building not even six months ago." Kagome giggled slightly as he tore at the floor. Seeing the tiny box she was looking for, she reached in and grabbed it, pulling it into her lap. She dusted it off and smiled at the hanyou before her.

"I had completely forgotten with everything going on that we had buried the Shikon under the house with that concealment charm." Kagome opened the box to peer at the tiny round jewel at the center of the cushioned enclosure. With a smirk that could match her mate's easily, she took the jewel from its case and held it in her palm. "We could use it, Inuyasha. To stop the pain. We could wish on it."

Inuyasha's eyes widened at the mere suggestion. It was originally Kagome's idea to bury it under the house so it couldn't be wished upon, and now here she was digging it up. Kagome noticed how the wheels in his head began turning, and decided to turn them back towards her way of thinking. "I know what you're thinking, Inuyasha, and you're wrong. It could be turned into a selfless wish. If I wish for you to stop hurting… oh don't look at me like that. You hide it well, but I know you're hurting just as much as I am. I'm tired of hurting Inuyasha…" Kagome sighed and looked her mate in the eyes. Inuyasha began to retort, but the look in Kagome's eyes stopped him. "And I want the pain to stop; with you still alive, Koishii. Look, Sesshoumaru even said Tensaiga wouldn't allow fully purified soul to be brought back, nor would it allow a fully demonized soul to come back. He can't do anything to help our situation. But Inuyasha; the jewel can."

Inuyasha's golden eyes became accusive, "what if it doesn't work? What if it turns your wish around like it did with everyone else's? I can't lose you to that fucking curse of a jewel, Kagome. I won't." He crushed her to him, trying to convey all his feelings about this new plan to her with that gesture. Tears formed in her eyes as she let out a strangled whisper:

"It's worth a shot. We have nothing else left to lose, Inuyasha. Nothing." If anything the hanyou held her tighter to him; whispering back fiercely.

"I could lose you. That's not a risk I'M willing to take."

"Please, Inuyasha? I can't take much more of this." Her voice pleaded with him, but he would not budge on his answer.

"No."

That night, as Inuyasha lay sleeping on their mat, Kagome silently made her way outside and onto the grassy hillside clutching the jewel tightly to her. The chill of the October night sent a shiver down her spine, but she sat down, looking down on the village at the hill's base. She stared with solemn eyes as tears met her lids. She looked down at the jewel, and silently made her wish.

"Please, Shikon no Tama. Please grant my wish. Please stop Inuyasha from hurting so." For a moment there was nothing but silence. Then, the jewel began to glow pink as the aura formed into a vision of a woman looking at the young Miko with sorrowful eyes.

"This wish, cannot be granted, Kagome-sama." Her eyes widened upon these words.

"Why not?! My mate is hurting, Midoriko-sama! After everything he has been through, he shouldn't have to suffer in such a way! He shouldn't have to die all because he fell in love!" A pitiful look met the teen's enraged form.

"It is a selfish wish, what you desire. By ridding your mate of his pain, you rid yourself of yours. You wish now, not for him to stop hurting, but for what Kikyo-sama had wished for many a moon ago; you wish for him to be human."

"No!"

"That is the only way, Kagome-sama. Even if you were to die to break the mate bond, Inuyasha would still be pained over your los for many years." Kagome looked down at the grass beneath her feet as the tears began to fall.

"It's not fair. What have we ever done to deserve this? All we did was love each other…"

"A Miko and Youkai, even partial Youkai, were never meant to love, Kagome-sama. I am sorry, but your wish will not be granted." With that said the elder Miko faded as the pink aura receded back into the jewel. At dawn, Inuyasha found Kagome sobbing on top of the hilltop, and a dull jewel beside her. Their last hope for coming out of this one alive was now gone with the jewel's power.

* * *

_Her breathing became more shallow; gasps almost. Inuyasha himself began to pant as his body collapsed to the ground from weakness, in the process pulling Kagome on top of him. She lay on his chest listening to the faint beat of his heart grow more and more quiet. In her last efforts, Kagome put the last ounce of her strength into what she knew would be her last words to her love._

"_Inu…?" His head weakly lifted to look down upon the fragile girl on him._

"_H-hai…Koi?" She smiled at his endearment; obviously an effort to calm her._

"_I-if you had…had the chance…would…w-would you…do it ag..ain?" Her eyes closed as her heartbeat slowed to a stop. Her skin slowly cooling as the blood flow ceased. With one final convulsion she was gone; the darkness completely surrounding her in a blanket of comfort. She was finally pain-free. She never heard his answer, but heard it within her soul. She would never know if he had said it aloud; but as she heard it she knew it was with his own last breath._

"_In a heartbeat."_

* * *

A/N

DONE! My goodness….what's with these sad stories coming out of me lately? Anyways, yes, short, sad one-shot. If you look at it in a dark, twisted way, it is a cute ending…. Or maybe that's just me. Reviews are greatly appreciated! I'd love to know what you guys think of this one!

Ja!

Shuro-chan


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